More User Reviews:

This beer pours a clear medium copper amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, foamy, and somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves a nice curtain of thin drooping, painted lace around the glass as it falls away.

It smells mildly of caramel/toffee malt, a bit of black tea, and leafy, floral hops. The taste is butter biscuit caramel malt, some generic drupe fruitiness which enhances the perceived sweetness, undercutting the style further, while the hops are of the drying, innocuous weedy/leafy sort.

The carbonation is average, petering out to be almost unnoticeable after a while. This renders a smooth, soft, fruity body, with a certain creamy frothiness. It finishes with a sweet pie-crust-like maltiness, and a lingering, but none-too-forward dry woodsy hoppiness.

Having become accustomed to APAs that border on IPAs (and there ain't nothin' wrong with that), this tastes a heckuva lot more like an amber ale (or perhaps just a Limey version of the style) to me. And yet a pretty decent one at that. (1,084 characters)

A - bubbly clear copper, very short head dissipated quickly to random islandsS - toasted bread and light caramel, grassy with a light spicy noteT - bready malt with a mild leafy-grassy hop character with some light honey sweetnessM - slight bread chewiness, smooth with highish carbonation, finishing with a mild hop bitterD - better than your average APA but nothing to write home about, but then again who writes home these days... (437 characters)

This beer poured into my pint glass copper-coloured with a thin white head that reduced immediately to a soapy ring. This beer is definitely on the malty side of the APA scale, with biscuits, caramel and diacetyl giving off a sweet buttery aroma. There was also a faint woody smell I found pleasant.

Sweet caramel dominated the taste, though there was also a syrupy port-like thing happening too. Floral hops made for a slightly bitter ending. The body was a little thin and watery, but lively carbonation made for a crisp finish. (533 characters)

A - Pours a crystal clear golden copper colour, thin finger of head with little retention and leaves no real lacing. Lightly visible carbonation in the body.

S - Very bready, wheaty grass and leafy green hops. Could use a bit more of a pine/citrus hop, but a tasty scent nonetheless.

T - Much like the scent implies, the grassiness comes through off the top, followed by some bready caramel malts. A bit of a sweet honey and leafy greens lingers on the tongue.

M - Light bodied, nice smooth carbonation on the tongue with a bitter dry finish. A little bit of a turnoff on the dryness, but nothing terrible.

D - Overall a pretty tasty offering from Mt. Begbie. They definitely have some better beers, but this one is pretty refreshing, offers some unique flavours, but could use a bit more on the hop side. Worthy offering and I'm glad I tried it. (850 characters)

Powerhouse Pale Ale looks delectable before you even start to sip: only a small head, but definite and healthy, leaving a nice slim film all the way down. The reason the appearance to me is so exceptional is the hue, the colour of the actual liquid: fleeting reds, honey, slight yellows, sparkling ambers, copper, detectable orange. Gorgeous colour for a beer. This is what I imagine when I hear "pale ale." Despite the somewhat meagre head, the ring still leaves ample creamy lacing. The aroma is butterscotch, deliciously roasted malt, slight coffee or chocolate, cream, honey, faint yeast smells adding some fruit, and very little, subtle hops. This is definitely more malty than hoppy; but I actually favour sweeter rather than bitter, hop-crazy beers, so I was smitten with this pale ale. The taste delivers on the smell: perfectly roasted malt, light grainy coffee/chocolate, sweet, burnt, bready, and in the finish some grassy, straw-like, dusty hops. The hops are more detectable in the taste than in the aroma, but even in the taste they are only on the finish; and, yet, the malt is never overly-sweet: indeed the hops perfectly balance the malt. Spectacular. The carbonation adds enough crispness, and the body is medium/full to make this an exceptionally drinkable ale. I could drink these with ease every day. It reminded me somewhat of Big Rock Traditional, except it is eminently better. (1,452 characters)

yup this is a nice looking pale ale but the sticking point with some people is that this is a very malty pale ale ( a BC thing nat times). The beer is easy drinking and yes it does taste like Big rock Trad. but all in all this is a decent beer though not true to the style. (273 characters)

I won 2 bottles of this beer as a prize package in a homebrew competition.

UPDATE: After gaining more review experience and sampling the 2nd bottle, I felt the need to update my original review.

650ml bottled served in 20 oz pint glass.

Beautiful, clear colour, let's call it dark orange (just short of red). I'm not doing the colour justice, it's perfection really jumps out at you. Pours a small 1/4" head, with little carbonation. Head quickly recedes to a ring. No lacing.

Smells of butterscotch, dark fruits and TONS of toasty, bready malt (the bottle says they use lots of lightly roasted malts)... it's a pleasant smell, but is not exactly what I'm looking for in a pale ale. Where's the hops?

Taste is more fruit and toasty, bready malts. Not much sweetness, which is a good thing because there is nary a hop in sight. Hops finally show up in the finish, but just barely there. The taste is actually very complex, similar in approach to a less intense barleywine.

Mouthfeel is about the only thing that suits the style, with just right carbonation levels.

Drinkability is high, it's got a compex malt character and I had no trouble polishing off both bottles.

There is nothing offensive, in fact I find this beer to have some interesting and unique characteristics. It's a very enjoyable beer. However, this drinks more like a robust Irish Red than a Pale Ale. If they marketed it as such, I would probably rate it a lot higher. A good choice for a newbie that likes low-hop ales along the lines of Big Rock Traditional. I do not plan on purchasing this beer, but I would not turn one down. (1,622 characters)